Love your game. Too bad you put a cap on the fun with the forced ending.
Reviews for "Hanoka"
Guy-Unger responds:
I respect the value of your time. i dont want people too spent too much time on my games
Ok, heres my 'Spillage' of thoughts:
I absolutely loved this game as it has an attractive unique feel to the game. I can not say for sure if it is a unique plot idea, but the gameplay seemed good enough.
I liked the fact you included 2 versions of the game: the Lundum Dare version (original) and an improved one, and you can definitely tell the difference between the 2!
What I thought was a bit of a shame, was, like many reviewers had said, was the lack of ending. You present the game impressively, a young warrior who wants to rid the village of the evils that lurk beneath the surface/ waters, and after wise words of the master, decides to dive head first into dangerous waters.
If that is the case, why can you NOT complete the game with all abilities? I understood the last ending credits, but if that is so, why even have a total of how many bosses you can kill at the bottom corner (9 I think?) then to cut the experience substantially by ending it by 3/4?!
UNLESS of course, there is a way you can NOT choose an ability and continue to hunt the monsters down. I have tried, but I can't seem to find that out!
Please, have an official ending, as I feel that my time invested into playing this game was cut short, and in turn, I feel cheated! :c
The controls and shooting seemed close enough...HOWEVER I feel that the aiming reticule (i.e., when you see both arrows coming together) should of been a different colour, as it clashed with the white background from the outside/ surface.
Also, I think what would of made the game slightly easier, is if you had an incoming arrow as to where the boss was going to approach. Ie, at times, I would lure the BOSS monster out of the waters, dive into the water then dive straight back up, only to sometimes run into its body and die instantaneously. Maybe if you had a warning arrow (or even the master who stays by the surface 24/7 to shout out 'left! right!, above left! etc') would of aided in the game playability greatly!
Yes, I am bearing in mind that there are 2 versions of the game (which I think is an EXCEPTIONAL option that ALL LUNDUM DARE DEVELOPERS SHOULD DEVELOP AND INCLUDE!) and for the original version, I rate it 8/10 stars (or 4.5/5 stars)
However, as you have included both versions, I am going to review it as if this was a DVD re-release of a great movie with 'added bonuses' lol. Because of the criticisms (as i have stated above), I think that though the bonus version is a much improved version of the game, it is unfortunately, too little, i.e., too SHORT to get the full 4.5 out of 5, therefore:
Final review?
Music:10/10
Playability:8/10
Re-playability: 6/10
Bonuses: 5/10
Therefore, 4/5 stars.
Hope this review helped and hope that you will continue to make even more great games!
M
Guy-Unger responds:
thanks for the awesome review man!
I think your comment convinced me to make a little update with more bosses.
i acctually wanted to make 7 bosses at first, but had trouble with the balancing and everything, thats why theyre still in there. i have no really good excuse to be honest, hahah
I like the quite a lot. I like the story idea - it's really basic, but so is the basis for many other fairy tales, and it's written well enough to fit in with the general idea really well.
The music (definitely play with music) provides the right kind of atmosphere, and every time you meet one of the 4 spirits, the change is welcome and good, and it sets a good "pumped" tension that just makes you wanna DO it, and do it right.
The upgrade system is really cool, and it does provide for complete freedom as to how you build your character, making the game either REALLY hard, or just quite challenging.
Getting the hang of the game at first can be slightly frustrating (it took me forever to find out that i need to jump OUT of the water in order to shoot), but once you understand what's going on, it's fun to play.
What i DON'T like, is the fact that for one, the enemies keep magically respawning - in the course of one life - even on the upper levels of the ocean, where I purposely try to clear them out so I don't lose unnecessary health running from a boss or such, but that's minor and I'm okay dealing with it.
The thing that I'm NOT okay dealing with, is the fact that whether or not you're even allowed to attempt the boss is completely random. There's no counter telling you how far away from the next spirit you are, and when you do find it, if it happens to be positioned wrong, you're immediately eaten and have to start again, with all the little cannon fodder guys respawned. The respawn is necessary - if you build your character wrong it provides for a nice chance to get some extra experience - but the boss' positions should either be fixed, or the player needs to have some way of knowing approximately when he's meeting the next big dude, or risk getting eaten alive over and over again until the one time that you find the boss in a spot from which you can actually start battling.
Other than that, the game was great, I got to the last guy, but for reasons stated above I had to stop before beating it.
With a fix for that, definitely a 5/5.
The game was fun, good music, addictive game play, responsive controls. Good work.
Like an underwater Shadow of the Colossus. Nice and epic muisic (Yoshida Borthers, excellent choice) and perfectly synchronised sounds. The difficulty is well-balanced, even if the last spirit is much harder than the others. So, why only four stars ? Because of the time you need to unlock the abilities required to enjoy the gameplay. But except that, this was quite an exciting and funny experience. I want to see more stuff like yours.